


An Unexpected Letter

by accioteacups



Series: Perditus [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Loss, Mourning, cemetary, i don't know how to tag things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 01:28:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10866195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accioteacups/pseuds/accioteacups
Summary: Remus is going though his books when he finds an unexpected letter from an old friend.





	An Unexpected Letter

**_May 1981_ **

_Dearest Remus, it's been so long since we saw you last, I'm beginning to get worried. Yes, I know that you're on top secret missions, and yes, I know you can't stop in too often in case you blow your cover, but I do wish you were around more. Honestly, I need you here to balance out James and Sirius! Peter just encourages them and, quite frankly, it's rather unhelpful. It’s worse when you consider the fact that we've been stuck here for months now, and James, love him as I do, is driving me mad. It was okay until Dumbledore took the cloak, but now there’s no way for him to get out at all. He’s been like a trapped firework with Peter and Sirius setting him off all the time._

_Harry has started toddling! He's not getting too far yet, but it's something! Oh I wish you could see him, he gets this look on his face, just like James when he's gotten away with something he shouldn't be doing (you know that look I'm sure) and honestly, it makes me so happy! I've enclosed a photo, simply because you have to see this, it's uncanny how much he looks like his father. Oh look at me, rambling on. How obvious is it that being inside for so long has driven me barmy?_

_I really do hope you're well Remus, and taking proper care of yourself, something I know you tend to forget to do. Please try to stop in at some point before Harry's birthday, I'll feed you a proper meal and you can try and undo some of the damage Sirius has undoubtedly done to my son! Honestly, you counter him perfectly, and I'm reassured to know that you'll always be around to be the more positive and serious (no pun intended!) influence on Harry._

_Lots of love, Lily x_

_(P.S. James sends his love, **I do not send my love to Moony! I'm actually calling you a prick and demanding you come here as soon as you get this bloody letter!** Charming as always isn't he?)_

* * *

 

_August 1998_

Remus sighed as he folded up the letter he'd found unopened in the back of his old charms book. It was a shock to see her handwriting, _Lily's_ handwriting, so unexpectedly after all these years. He ought to give things like this to Harry, but Remus couldn't bring himself to give up the last vestiges of the first family he'd ever known.

He shook the envelope to get the photo Lily had mentioned, and a smile crept across his face as he looked down at the tiny boy in the photo, his eyes taking in everything. The coffee table Harry was pulling himself up with, the determined look on his small face, the joy as he managed it. He truly was James in miniature, as the man himself swooped in and lifted his son out of the frame. Though he couldn’t hear it, Remus knew the laughter that must’ve followed this. Harry’s tiny breathless giggles, James’ strangely soft laugh and Lily, who didn’t laugh as much as smiled with her whole body.

“That'll be Teddy soon enough.” Remus jumped as his wife walked up behind him and rested her face on his shoulder, “gosh it's strange to imagine Harry so small. This tiny child saved the wizarding world, but he doesn’t know it yet. All he knows is love.”

“He should have known that love for a lot longer though. He should never have gone to the Dursley’s,” Tonks looked up at her husband as he sighed, “I should’ve-”

“Remus, love, if you keep sighing you’re going to deflate, and how on earth will I be able to explain to Teddy why his father is flat?” She paused as a small smile tugged at his lips, “you did what you could, and that sadly was all you could do. You know as well as I do that they would never hold it against you.”

Remus briefly pulled away from Tonks to turn around and pull her close to him, the photo of Harry still clutched in his hand. He knew there was nothing he could do to change how things had gone, knew there was no point feeling guilty, knew that it wasn’t his fault, but he couldn’t stop these feelings. Now the war was over, Remus had vowed that Harry would only know love from now on. Teddy certainly made that a lot easier, the small boy exuded the purest kind of love, the kind that only the innocent can give, and so few of them were truly innocent these days. Looking at his watch, Remus saw that it was far later than he'd thought, distracted by his own melancholy.

“Dora? I'm going to go,” he started, stopping at his wife's understanding look as she pulled away from him.

“Go,” she said smiling gently, watching as her husband turned and rushed out of the room, hearing the faint sound of him shutting the door in the distance.

As he walked the familiar path, Remus got lost in his thoughts. He'd been walking this journey for nearly seventeen years, and his life had changed beyond recognition. It’d been well over a year since he'd last come here, and even in that relatively short period of time much had changed. The war was… not over, due to the amount of Death Eaters still on the loose, but the end was much closer than it had ever been. He'd scraped through with only a handful more scars, and he was luckier than most in that regard.

Entering the cemetery, Remus made his way towards the familiar headstones bearing the names of two people he had been missing for nearly two decades. As he reached them, he noticed that there was a fresh bunch of lilies in a vase next to the empty pot that had once been red, but had been bleached by the sun to a grubby white over time. He sat, leaning against the marble slab as if it was his friend, and began to talk aloud to the deserted cemetery.

“I suppose I should apologise, it's been awhile since I was last here, but there's been a war on, and your son insisted that I go into hiding with my pregnant wife… well, it's been a busy year,” Remus laughed to himself, “but I've a son, Teddy, and Harry's godfather, a role he's taking very seriously, but judging by the flowers, he's already filled you in on that.” He paused at this, wondering what else to say.

“You'd be proud of him, you have no idea how much he's done. _Saviour_ , that's what the Prophet’s calling him now, he can't escape the nicknames. It's going to be a long healing process, but I believe in him. I'm making him take some time off before he makes any choices, give him time to get his head straight so he doesn't rush into becoming an auror or something. I always thought he'd make a decent teacher, but they've offered me the defence post at Hogwarts, so he'll have to wait a little while before he gets that role.”

Remus sat in silence for a bit, basking in the peace and quiet. Between the aftermath of a war and having a small son, he didn't get much of it anymore. After a while, as the sun began to set and a chill settled over him, sinking into his bones. Standing, he looked down at the lilies in their vase and remembered something else.

“But it's a good thing I survived because bloody Snape turned out to be some kind of _hero_ and honestly, the way Harry was talking about him, you wouldn't believe they were the same person. Without me around to set him straight, he'd probably end up naming his _child_ after the git,” Remus laughed, “but it's okay, I'll keep him on the right track.”

At this, Remus turned to leave, walking his way through the village of Godric’s Hollow towards the apparition point a few streets away. As he made his way through the alleyway, he spared a thought for the people he'd lost, and made himself another vow to live for their memories, to teach people that love really was as important as Albus Dumbledore had preached.

For James. For Lily. For Sirius. He would _live_. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is a kind-of-sequel to my other fic, Melancholy Flowers, which I published an age ago, but here we are. This has been sitting in google docs for well over a year, and here it is, finally finished! Totally un-betad, any mistakes are my own 
> 
> NB- the title of the series comes from the typical 'I can't think of a title in English, so I'll just translate an adjective into Latin because it sounds good' line of thought


End file.
